Production

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General info

General info

Every picture tells a story...

A gift from nature
When the artist mixes the paint, lays his knives and brushes ready and stretches the canvas onto the frame, that canvas already has a long history behind it.

Noble fibres

The story of an artist’s canvas begins with plant fibres.

Flax

This long-stemmed plant is harvested and then steeped in water. This makes it easier for the golden, soft fibres to be stripped from the woody bast. Flax is grown mainly in the district around the River Leie in the region where many famous Flemish painters have worked and where Claessens has always been based.

Cotton

The cotton thread is spun from the woolly hairs around the cotton seeds. Cotton grows mainly in the southern part of the United States.

Jute

Top-quality raw materials

Artist’s canvas is traditionally woven from 100% pure flax (linen), 100% pure cotton, 100% pure jute, a mix of linen and cotton or a mix of linen and jute. Nowadays, canvases are also made from synthetic raw materials such as viscose fibre and polyester.

Claessens principally produces canvas from flax. This provides the best quality and is by far the most durable. Of course, we work with the other materials as well and all canvases receive the same meticulous treatment according to traditional methods.